By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

ONEONTA — The Oneonta Tigers couldn’t keep their hit parade going through two games Friday.

After opening with a 12-1 victory over Tri-City, the Tigers fell to the ValleyCats, 8-4, in the second game of a New York-Penn League double-header at Damaschke Field. Each game went seven innings.

Oneonta (22-13) remained in first place in the Stedler Division, 2½ games ahead of the Lowell Spinners. The Tigers play host to Tri-City at 1 p.m. Saturday at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. Jeff Hahn (3-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for Oneonta.

The two teams wrap up a five-game set at 6 p.m. Sunday with a double-header at Damaschke.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Oneonta cruised in the first game after opening with a five-run first. William Rhymes singled before back-to-back walks to Matt Joyce and Michael Hollimon loaded the bases. After Cory Middleton popped out to short, Justin Justice hit a two-run single to right.

Mark Haske followed with a single to right field, scoring Hollimon and moving Justice to third. Haske took second as Justice drew a throw to third on the play. Following a Brandon Timm strikeout, Rafael Mendez doubled to deep left to score Haske and Justice for a 5-0 lead.

The Tigers added two more in the second. With one out, Hollimon and Middleton were each hit by pitches. Justice singled to right to load the bases, prompting Tri-City manager Gregg Langbehn to pull starter Anthony Pluta and bring in Eric Sheridan.

Haske greeted Sheridan with another single to right, scoring Hollimon and Middleton for a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers piled it on in the fifth with one out. Mendez and Joel Roa singled to put runners on first and second before Rhymes walked to load the bases.

After Joyce popped out to short, Hollimon hit a 1-0 pitch over the right-field fence for a grand slam. It was Hollimon’s league-leading ninth homer of the season.

"You get in that situation and pitchers have to come in to you," O-Tigers manager Tom Brookens said. "That’s a credit to (Hollimon) for a quality at-bat. He kept focus and drove it out of the park. ... He has a lot of pop in his swing."

The ValleyCats, who scored in the sixth, allowed Oneonta’s final run in the same inning. Justice tripled to lead off the sixth and scored on Haske’s sacrifice fly to center.

"Games like that happen," Brookens said. "We hit the ball good from beginning to end. Now we have to do it all over again."

Oneonta starter Sendy Vasquez (2-0) earned the victory, scattering three hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three.

Justice and Mendez finished with three hits apiece for Oneonta, which outhit Tri-City, 13-4.

The ValleyCats scored five runs in the first two innings off starter Tom Lyons and held on for the victory.

Wladimir Sutil finished 3-for-3 with two runs for the ValleyCats (18-18), who are third in the Stedler Division, 4½ games behind Oneonta.

Thomas Fairchild (2-2) earned the victory for Tri-City, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Matthew Cunningham capped a three-run first for the ValleyCats with a two-run single. Oneonta cut it to 3-2 in the bottom frame. Jorge Patino led off with a double down the third-base line and, one out later, Hollimon tripled to center. He then scored on Middleton’s sacrifice fly to left.

Neil Sellers’ two-run double with none out in the second gave Tri-City a 5-2 lead before James Goethals homered in the fourth.

Oneonta cut the lead to 6-4 in the fifth. Joyce had a two-out single and scored when Hollimon doubled to left. Middleton followed with an RBI single to right but was thrown out at second by catcher Goethals when he tried to advance on the throw to the plate.

Tri-City ended the scoring with two runs in the seventh.

———

FRIDAY’S O-TIGERS BOX SCORE

TRI-CITY ÐØ Ø ONEONTA ÐØÐØ Ø

ab r h bi Ø ÐØÐØØØ ab r h bi

Sutil dh 3Ø0Ø2Ø0 Rhymes 2b 3Ø2Ø1Ø0

King 2b 3Ø0Ø0Ø0 Joyce rf 3Ø1Ø0Ø0

Manzella ss 3Ø1Ø1Ø0 Hollimon ss 2Ø3Ø1Ø4

Parraz cf 3Ø0Ø0Ø1 Middletn 3b 3Ø1Ø1Ø0

Cnnghm rf 2Ø0Ø1Ø0 Justice cf 4Ø2Ø3Ø2

Thmpsn 3b 3Ø0Ø0Ø0 Haske dh 3Ø1Ø2Ø4

Cavers c 2Ø0Ø0Ø0 Timm lf 4Ø0Ø0Ø0

Cooper lf 2Ø0Ø0Ø0 Mendez 1b 4Ø1Ø3Ø2

Roa c 3Ø1Ø2Ø0

Totals ÐØ 21Ø1Ø4Ø1 Totals ÐÐ 29Ø121312

Tri-City 0000010 1

Oneonta 520041x 12

E—Pluta (1), Cunningham (1), Roa (3). DP Tri-City 1, Oneonta 1. LOB—Tri-City 5, Oneonta 6. 2B—Mendez (5). 3B Justince (1). HR Hollimon (9). SF—Haske.

IPÐÐHÐRERÐBBÐSO

ÐTri-City ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØØ ÐØÐØ

Pluta L, 2-3 Ø11-3ØØ5ÐØ7ÐØ7ÐØ3ÐØ1

Sheridan Ø22-3ØØ3ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0

Stricklen Ø2ØØØØ5ÐØ5ÐØ5ÐØ1ÐØ1

ÐOneonta ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØÐØ

Vasquez W,2-0 Ø5ØØØØ3ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ2ÐØ3

Konecny Ø2ØØØØ1ÐØ1ÐØ1ÐØ1ÐØ0

HBP—Hollimon (by Pluta), Middleton (by Pluta)

WP Konecny

Umpires—Home, Mike Patterson; First, Doug Levy.

T—1:55. A—2,224.

NY-PENN STANDINGS

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Staten Island (Yanks) Ø23ØØ12ØØ.657ØØØ—Ð

Williamsprt (Pirates) Ø23ØØ14ØØ.622ÐØØ1Ð

Brooklyn (Mets) Ø22ØØ15ØØ.595ÐØØ2Ð

New Jersey (Cards) Ø19ØØ19ØØ.500ÐØØ5½

Hudson Vally (Rays) Ø17ØØ19ØØ.472ÐØØ6½

Aberdeen (Orioles) Ø12ØØ25ØØ.324ÐØ12Ð

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Mahnng Vly (Indians) Ø20ØØ18ØØ.526ØØØ—Ð

Auburn (Blue Jays) Ø18ØØ19ØØ.486ÐØØ1½

Jamestown (Marlins) Ø17ØØ21ØØ.447ÐØØ3Ð

Batavia (Phillies) Ø15ØØ21ØØ.417ÐØØ4Ð

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Oneonta (Tigers) Ø22ØØ13ØØ.629ØØØ—Ð

Lowell (Red Sox) Ø21ØØ17ØØ.553ÐØØ2½

Tri-City (Astros) Ø18ØØ18ØØ.500ÐØØ4½

Vermont (Nationals) Ø11ØØ27ØØ.289ÐØ12½

———

New Jersey 3, Aberdeen 1

Auburn 7, Mahoning Valley 1

Batavia 10, Jamestown 5

Brooklyn 8, Hudson Valley 3

Lowell 7, Vermont 3

Oneonta 12, Tri-City 1, 1st game

Tri-City 8, Oneonta 4, 2nd game

Staten Island at Williamsport

Aberdeen at New Jersey

Auburn at Mahoning Valley

Hudson Valley at Brooklyn

Jamestown at Batavia

Lowell at Vermont

Staten Island at Williamsport

Tri-City at Oneonta

Aberdeen at Jamestown

Auburn at Staten Island

Brooklyn at Lowell

Mahoning Valley at Vermont

Tri-City at Oneonta, 1st game

Tri-City at Oneonta, 2nd game

Williamsport at Batavia